Thursday, September 24, 2015

The Red Peak bill passed this morning, and the design is now officially on the ballot paper to be considered as a possible flag. And apparently, Labour is very pouty about this. The Herald reports "simmering anger" with the Greens at the deal, Gordon Campbell is upset that they have "rescued Prime Minister John Key from his personal flag fiasco", and a commenter on the Dim-Post (which is what got me onto this topic) is annoyed at the Greens for "lending false legitimacy to Key’s strapped chicken referendum process and screwing your coalition partner" (I'd delve into The Standard's comments, but I simply don't have time for that shit today).

For the record, I think the process is a farce, and adding an extra option to the ballot paper at the last minute just makes it more so, but that doesn't change any of the below. Because what's important here isn't what I think, but what the Greens think. And the Greens have consistently supported the flag process from the beginning (while trying to improve it, as is their way).

That's obviously not Labour's position. Big deal. They're different parties, so they disagree. And if Labour were adults, they'd accept that and move on to talking about how they can work together on the huge areas of political ground where they do agree. The fact that they can't, and that they're still demanding absolute subservience from their potential partners, is exactly why they're unfit to be in government. Because if you can't handle your party relationships in opposition, you're sure as shit not going to be able to do it when in office.